Chapter Five's arranged meeting of Daisy with Jay Gatsby
at Nick's house is strained and artificial from the beginning. After Daisy
arrives, Gatsby enters Nick's house "
pale as death, with his hands plunged like
weights in his coat pockets...glaring tragically into [Nick's
eyes].
Dressed in a white
flannel suit with a silver shirt and gold shirt--symbolic of his new wealth-- he
positions himself in a "strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom...." It
is apparent that he, like Daisy who sits "frightened but graceful" on the edge of a
chair. Awkwardly, Gatsby leans against the clock that tilts "dangerously at the pressure
of his head," and Gatsby turns, catches it, and replaces it nervously on the mantle.
Again like a young man, as Nick leaves the room, Jay Gatsby follows him "wildly" into
the kitchen; when the door closes, he whispers, "Oh, God!...This is a terrible mistake,"
acknowledging the appropriateness of this situation. Clearly, Gatsby and Daisy act like
teens on a first date out of their agitation, nervousness, and guilt as well as the
futility of trying to recapture the past.
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